The invention relates to a valve arrangement comprising an integral rail-like valve carrier body, on which a plurality of valve units are mounted sequentially aligned in the longitudinal direction of the valve carrier body alongside each other, such valve units respectively possessing a valve and at least one electrically operated valve drive, the valves being connected with fluid ducts extending in the valve carrier body and the valve drives being in electrical contact by way of plug contact means thereof with electrical connection means fixed in relation to the valve carrier body, such contact means being connected with externally connectable electrical lines serving for the transmission of control signals.
Valve arrangements of this type are for example disclosed in the brochure xe2x80x9cVentil- und Installationsinselnxe2x80x9d No. 119, pages 8/9 of company Festo KG. In this case such valve arrangements comprise an integral, rail-like valve carrier body, which is detachably fitted with adjacently placed valve units arranged side by side, which respectively have one valve and at least one valve drive in the form of, for instance, an electromagnet or solenoid. A housing is mounted longitudinally of the valve carrier body and accommodates a printed circuit board extending in parallelism to the valve carrier body, such printed circuit board being fitted with electrical connection means. The valve drives of the individual valve units are respectively fitted with plug contact means which during assembly or fitting of the valves come into electrical contact with the electrical contact means so that owing to the presence of the printed circuit board an electrical connection may be produced with an electronic control means.
Although the known valve arrangement operates extremely reliably and renders possible highly rational manufacture and assembly, this is at the expense of complex manufacturing equipment which is consequently high in price, this having an unwanted effect on the selling price of the products.
One object of the invention is accordingly to create a valve arrangement of the type initially mentioned whose structure is cheaper to produce.
In order to achieve these and/or other objects appearing from the present specification, claims and drawings, in the present invention each valve is provided with its own connection module having the associated electrical connection means, the connection modules of all valves being placed in a row free of mutual electrical connection in the longitudinal direction of the valve carrier body and being separately secured to the valve carrier body, the externally connectable electrical lines being in the form of flexible wire conductors.
It is in this manner that the electrical connection means associated with the valve drives cease to be components of a printed circuit board with predetermined dimensions dictated by the number of valve units, and instead are provided on connection modules, which are associated with the separate valves in an individual fashion. Therefore during the manufacture and assembly of the valve arrangement it is possible to implement the necessary electrical connection measures simply by the use of a suitable number of connection modules, there being a great range of possible variation, since the connection modules do not have any interconnecting terminal means between them for the transmission of control signals. In order to provide valve arrangements with different numbers of valve units, it is accordingly possible to use a stock of indefinite length, i. e. a running length, for the valve carrier body which can be cut to size, the valve carrier body then being fitted with the required number of connection modules. Since in this respect the necessary manufacturing and assembly operations are relatively simple and do not necessarily involve the use of highly sophisticated manufacturing and assembly equipment it is possible for the valve arrangement to be produced on the whole at a relatively favorable price. Since the valve units are preferably secured on the valve carrier body independently of the connection modules, they may be very simply mounted or detached, the assembly or removal of the electrical plug connection involving the simultaneous making and, respectively, breaking of the plug connection between the plug contact means and the connection modules, since the latter remain on the valve carrier body.
Although the German patent publication 4,222,637 C2 discloses a valve arrangement, in the case of which the valve drives are in electrical contact with individual printed circuit boards for electrical operation, such printed circuit boards are however coupled together to form a signal distributor and also cascaded electrically for signal transmission, something which means that the number of the valve drives to be operated can not be varied completely freely, and is in fact predetermined by the configuration of the printed circuit boards. A further point is that the valve carrier body is divided up into individual segments, something which while permitting a high degree of adaptation for producing units of different overall length, simultaneously means that there is a relatively large amount of assembly complexity.
Further advantageous developments of the invention are defined in the claims.
In the case of a particularly advantageous embodiment each connection module comprises a principal body of plastic material, which for example may be produced by molding at an extremely low price and which serves as the support for the connection means. In this case it is possible for the connection means to be individually permanently integrated or, preferably, to be in the form of components of a connection plug detachably fixed on the respective principal body, which plug may alternatively be employed as a simple electric valve plug. Accordingly for the design of the valve arrangement it is possible to have recourse to components, which alternatively can be employed for other purposes in order in this manner to lead to a further saving in costs by the employment of uniform parts.
All connection modules are preferably designed in the form of individual, self-contained components which are installed in accordance with the desired number thereof. As an alternative it would be possible to have the principal bodies in the form of readily separable component of a principal body strand, that is to say for example a strand-like arrangement of principal bodies in a row and with predetermined points of weakness between them at which they can be broken off as required.
If the valve units of the valve arrangement are to be electrically operated individually in a particular application, it is preferred to utilize a design in which the flexible wire conductors, serving for external connection as electrical conductors are respectively individually extended or directed away from the connection modules and from the valve arrangement. In the case of an alternative design for this purpose the flexible wire conductors on board the valve arrangement lead to interface means, whence a central electrical connection with an external electronic control means is possible, for instance using a field bus connection or a multi-pole connection. The central interface means may however itself be fitted with an electronic control unit.
In order to secure the connection modules on the valve carrier body the latter may be provided with a holding rail, on or in which the connection modules are placed in a row. The holding rail is preferably an integral component of the valve carrier body so that on cutting the valve carrier body to the desired length the correct length of the holding rail is automatically produced.
On the holding rail it is possible to provide one or more anchoring grooves, into which the connection modules fit. Moreover, the holding rail can have a recess extending in the longitudinal direction of the valve carrier body, into which the connection modules at least partly fit so that there is a reliable locking in place in conjunction with protection against damage and simultaneously compact dimensions of the overall arrangement.
In the case of a valve carrier body with, essentially , a rectangular cross section the recess may be provided in the corner region as recess aligned with the corner. Inserted connection modules consequently continue to be readily accessible. Furthermore, the flexible wire conductors may be readily caused to extend away from the each individual connection module without hindrance by the valve carrier body.
In the case of a further embodiment of the invention the recess is groove-like, the alignment preferably being such that the longitudinal groove opening is aligned in the same direction as the component carrying face of the valve carrier body, on which the valve units are seated with their valves. The groove opening is accordingly turned toward the valve drives, something favoring the automatic production and interruption of the electrical plug connection between the valve drives and the connection modules on assembly and disassembly of the valve units.
The flexible wire conductors may if necessary be laid in the recess, and covered over by the connection modules. This design is particularly to be recommended when a central interface means is additionally arranged on the holding rail. It is then possible to provide flexible electrical connections, which are invisible from the outside, between the connection modules and the central interface means.
Using end pieces fitted in the recess in the holding rail, which flank the row of connection modules on all sides, it is possible for the connection modules to fixed in place in a particularly simple fashion so that their longitudinal position is set in relation to the valve carrier body.
Preferably, the connection module are mounted on the valve carrier body by being thrust from the one end of the valve carrier body into at least one anchoring groove, extending in the longitudinal direction and/or one recess having a similar shape.
The valve carrier body could be in the form of an injection molding and consist of synthetic resin material. In the case of an alternative design the valve carrier body consists of aluminum material and is in the form of an extrude in the case of which attachment means, extending along the constituent length of the valve carrier body, may be provided for the connection modules in a particularly simple manner.
Further advantageous developments and convenient forms of the invention will be understood from the following detailed descriptive disclosure of embodiments thereof in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a first preferred embodiment of the valve arrangement in accordance with the invention in perspective view looking downward.
FIG. 2 shows the valve arrangement of FIG. 1 in an exploded view, only one of the valve units being indicated in chained lines.
FIG. 3 is an individual view of the arrangement provided in accordance with FIGS. 1 and 2 in the valve arrangement with connection modules and a central interface means.
FIG. 4 shows a preferred embodiment of the valve arrangement in accordance with the invention in perspective.
FIG. 5 shows the valve arrangement of FIG. 4, again in perspective but with a different angle of viewing.